US airline cancels all flights because of a technical issue

US carrier Southwest Airlines grounded all flights nationwide on Tuesday morning due to a “data connection issue” as passenger complaints piled up on social media. The problem was the result of “data connection issues resulting from a firewall failure,” the airline said in a statement. Passengers were offered “heartfelt apologies” and the opportunity to rebook their ticket for free. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that Southwest had requested the pause in operations “due to an internal technical issue.” The pause has been lifted and traffic has resumed as normal, while Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg directed disgruntled passengers to the Department of Transportation’s website to learn their “rights as a passenger”. Southwest released a report on the Christmas meltdown earlier this month, reiterating that “insufficient winter infrastructure” and issues with its scheduling software were to blame. It claimed software upgrades were already underway and promised to have things in order by next winter.